


Sentenced

by Underthegallowws



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 08:47:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12744969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Underthegallowws/pseuds/Underthegallowws
Summary: It’s a mess.This whole situation is such a mess.- We just need to keep moving.Theo’s voice is as steady as can be, but his heart is losing it.Correction.Theo is losing it.





	1. To the right...

                                                       [](http://fr.tinypic.com?ref=1z5p2fr)

 

 

It’s a mess.

This whole situation is such a mess.

**\- We just need to keep moving.**

Theo’s voice is as steady as can be, but his heart is losing it.

Correction.

Theo is losing it.

 **\- Liam !**  He tries, a little louder, but still mindful of the risk of being heard. They really need to get the heck out of here, and they need to be discreet while doing it.  **Do you hear me ? We need …**

**\- Trying.**

Liam’s voice is raspy, and Theo doesn’t need any supernatural power to understand that he is not getting better.

They are in the middle of the forest, and the hunters are not far behind. The air smells of blood - Liam’s blood, and his own, and the unmistakenbly sour odor of wolfsbane.

_Liam is not getting better._

This idea is easier to process than the truth.

_Liam is getting worse._

Theo stops walking, and turns to his left, where the beta is bend in two. Liam coughs, and small droplets of blood stain his hoodie.

It smells like death.

Theo tries to breathe, but there is a silent terror in his stomach, and his mind, his powerful witty mind, can’t process what is happening.

He tries to close his eyes, to put himself together, but his instinct is too strong. You don’t close your eyes when faced with danger.

Still, he can’t look at Liam again. He needs to stay sane, and the view would only bring him closer to the edge.

With a shudder, he puts his arm under Liam’s, and tries to take some of his weight. Liam lets a small cry escape his lips at the obviously painful contact, before gritting his tooth.

 **\- Let’s go,**  Theo whispers, and they are walking again.

They don’t go very far. They have walked thirty feet before Liam’s legs can not carry him anymore, and Liam falls on the ground, bringing Theo with him.

The sound that Liam makes is so small, so broken, that Theo needs a few seconds to recover. He focus on listening for  the hunters, and he shivers as he can hear them coming closer.

It’s so frustrating. He wishes he could just carry Liam, and run away from this mess. But his right arm is broken, the bones shattered in so many pieces that he doubts he will heal before a few days. He is a chimera, and chimeras don’t heal as fast as werewolves.

Liam makes a distress sound and tries to sit. Theo rolls on his good arm, and manages to pull himself to a seating position before helping Liam do the same.

It takes them effort, and ten long seconds before Liam is sitting behind Theo’s legs, leaning against his chest.

Another cough. Another spurt of black blood.

-  **I am screwed, right ?**  Liam whispers, with a difficult chuckle.

From where he is, Theo can see nine wounds. Every movement they made, every step Theo forced him to take, leaded to Liam losing more blood. Even if he knows there was no other choice, he does not deal well with the idea that he hurt the young werewolf even more.

He doesn’t know what to answer. They both can detect lies. And he can’t bear the truth.

Liam saves him from answering. His body jerks forward, and he is taken over by what sounds like very wet hiccups. Theo brings his good arm around Liam’s torso, keeping him up, while he is throwing up what looks like black blood mixed to oil.

 **\- I’ve got you… I’ve got you** , he whispers, and his heart is steady enough that he knows he is not lying.

He smells the salt, and the pain, before he can see the tears. But when Liam is back against him, leaning with all his weight, it is impossible not to see the wet streaks on his cheeks.

 **\- You should go** , the beta articulates.  **You can still run**.

Theo looks at him in silence. This broken boy, who should not be dying on the wet ground of a forest, alone, hunted by the people he tried to save so many times. Liam is so young, only sixteen. He should be enjoying his teenage life, having friends and parties, and his only concern should be the next algebra test.

The chimera is so not a good person. He does not know if he is a person, actually. He has done so many horrible things, has taken so many innocent lives. He has prayed for war, destruction, and power. He might not be responsible for Liam’s death, but he is responsible for making the world a worse place.

 **\- I am sorry** , he blurts out, and he can feel Liam tense against him.

There is a silence. Theo tries to find the words, to explain his thoughts. He does not expect Liam to laugh, weakly.

**\- Really, Theo ? You chose my last moments to make it all about you ?**

There is sweetness in how he said it. Liam has always been sweet. Even when he was mad at Theo, even when he was ready to kill him, and even when he sent him back to hell. It’s like he can’t hide who he is. Like he can’t hide that he is good, that he does everything from his heart. It’s what Theo hated the most, in the beginning.

 **\- It should be me** , he says, simply.

Liam shivers against him, and Theo holds him with more strength.

**\- Doesn’t matter. I am not making it. You still can.**

Theo doesn’t answer. He lets his left fingers play against Liam’s hoodie. And he hooks his chin on the other’s shoulder. Liam tries to break free from his embrace, but he has so little strength that he only wiggles a little.

**\- Seriously, Theo… You are the one who listens to his head, right ? Now is the moment to. If it were two other people, and you could give them advice… You would advice yourself to run.**

Theo does not deny it.

_He can’t lie._

He takes Liam’s smell in. So much blood, and so much pain.

_So much death._

But still, underneath, he can still smell Liam’s shampoo, the floral detergent his mother uses, and Liam. He holds on to that.

 **\- Theo !**  Liam tries again.

**\- Shhhh. We don’t need them to come faster, do we ?**

He knows Liam is right. He knows he can’t do anything for him, and he knows he should run. And a part of him wants to. A part of him is begging for safety, for warmth, for  _pack_.

Still, it’s like he can’t unhook his arm. Like his body can’t leave Liam’s.

**-Th…**

**\- I am not leaving.**

His voice is calm.

He takes off his own hoodie, and he needs to let Liam go for that. It takes him all the control he has not to scream as he moves the fabric from his right arm, but he focuses on Liam, and on his pain. He can take this. The beta is taking way more.

He brings his left arm right where it was before, against Liam’s stomach, and lets the hoodie fall on Liam’s torso. It’s so cold, out there.

Usually, they would both be generating enough heat to feel warm. But Liam has lost so much blood, and Theo’s powers are all used in trying to heal his arm.

He hasn’t been that cold since hell.

Liam coughs, against him, and they both cringe at the movement bringing more pain.

There is salt in the air again.

Theo brings his hand to Liam’s wrist, tentatively.

He has only done this once. And he only remembers how he felt, afterward. How his world became black, and heavy, for days. It was like he was paying for each second he helped the other teenager. They discovered that, contrary to werewolves, Theo taking pain was not without repercussions.

Liam tries to fight his grip, but Theo only holds stronger.

He closes his eyes, bringing in the smell he detected under all the bad ones. He thinks about sweetness, about a heart which used to beat so strongly. He thinks about minutes, hours, days, spent bickering, and fighting. First, each other. Then, together.

He thinks about being happy, about feeling like he belongs. He thinks about hoping for a second chance. All the memories, they smell like mint shampoo, floral detergent, and a calming scent.

His veins become black, and he can feel Liam relax against him. He can hear his breathing becoming a little bit less labored.

And it hurts, it hurts like hell. It hurts like getting his own heart ripped again an again. But Theo knows pain. He can deal with this.

He can deal with this if it means Liam can breathe a little better.

And so, he repeats.

**\- I am not leaving you.**

His sentence is final.


	2. ... To the left.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Liam’s heart stops, Theo just freezes.

When Liam’s heart stops, Theo just freezes. 

He never knew how calming the slow beating of a heart could be, before there is no beating anymore. He has been listening to Liam’s heart getting calmer, and quieter every passing second, but he did not prepare himself for this.

For the silence.

There is no more warm breath against the back of his hand, no more slow rising of the younger boy’s chest. There is only stillness, and Theo’s can’t. Breathe. Anymore.

Before… Before hell, Theo was a thinker. A strategist. He used to make plans, think about probabilities, and he was good at it. So good that it almost worked. He almost won.

But since he came back, he has slowly learnt how to live. How to just pass through time without thinking too much. He used to be so bad at this. Always reflecting. Always analyzing. Always theorizing. 

How many times did Liam shrug at his attics ? How many times did he heard the phrase “Stop overanalyzing everything, Theo.”, or “Let’s go crazy and improvise when we are at it”. 

He understands now. Thinking, planning, trying to influence things… It makes you feel like you actually can control life. Like you have some kind of power over destiny.

It used to be his way of coping.

Theo has lost his ability to cope, now.

Liam’s heart is still for what feels like hours, and Theo is just as motionless. It’s like he does not remember how he is supposed to react. Like his whole world just stopped, and there is nothing anymore.

It’s like losing a battle he never knew he fought.

He is so lost in his own abyss that he almost does not register the pulse coming back, quick, and erratic. It does not sound like Liam’s heart. It feels like a small bird flapping its wings, urgent and volatile. 

Theo inhales loudly, and tries to focus on the few seconds he won on fate.

**\- Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck.**

He has never particularly liked swearing, but there is no way to translate what he is feeling in his soul. Liam’s eyes are closed, and his breathing is uneven, but he is still there, and Theo holds him with all the strength he still has. He does not care about the hunters anymore, and he can’t remember why his right arms is so heavy. He holds the boy against him, and hooks his chin a little closer to him.

**\- God Liam. Don’t do that again.**

Liam has never been good at following orders.

When Liam’s heart stops for the second time, Theo lets a small whine escapes his lips. His own breathing is shallow, like his body does not process oxygen anymore. He rocks the limp body slowly against him, just hoping for another chance, for another few seconds of life.

He is so not ready to say goodbye.

When Liam’s heart start beating again, Theo feels like crying. Because it does not sound like he is fighting anymore. It’s so calm. So heavy. Slow, just like those times Theo has listened to it while Liam’s been sleeping.

It’s almost peaceful, really. And Theo just knows, he knows that next time Liam’s heart will stop, there will be no coming back.

That’s what they say, about dying. That you just know that it’s your time. Well, it feels like Liam’s time, and it kills Theo, but he has taken enough, and he can’t take this from the beta.

 **\- It’s okay,** he whispers, still rocking Liam’s warm body.  **It’s okay Liam. You can let go now.**

And it’s just like Liam was waiting for it. One second, he is there, still living in Theo’s arms, and the next…

His heart does not stop. Not really. It sounds like he is falling asleep, pulse heavier at each passing second. Theo tries to take the pain, he really does, but there is no more to take. He tries to stay put, to stay with Liam until the very end. What comes after should not cross his mind. Liam deserves someone to hold him until the very end.

The blood enters the heart, but does not leave it.

Liam’s breath stops.

Theo’s soul breaks.

That’s when he hears Mason’s motor coming though the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for all that angst.  
> I was not supposed to write a part two, but the lovely http://onlymorelove.tumblr.com/ wanted to know what happened next.  
> As I told her :  
> I wanted to let the reader decide whether Liam survives this.
> 
> In my mind, he does not. The fact that Theo hears Mason’s motor only means one thing : Liam was a few seconds away from surviving.
> 
> It’s all bittersweet, isn’t it ?
> 
> (Please don’t hate me.)


End file.
